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Christian Tissier Shihan is by far one of the most well known Aikido Instructors in the world. This can be explained by his start at an early age, his remarkable curriculum, his charisma, and his seemingly innate sense for the media. Yet, most people know actually very little about the man and his journey. In this article, I will try to shed some light on his early life, which will hopefully help to understand the man behind the "model" [the Japanese title Shihan (??) literally means "model"].

In this bio there is a reference to some `rivalry between Nakazono Sensei and Noro Sensei`

In 1963 I was one of the ukes to both Nakazono Sensei and Noro Sensei at the Kenshiro Abbe BJC National Championships held at `The Royal Albert Hall London` - I remember Nakazono used Noro as uke in a demonstration against knife attacks - Nakazono took Noro down in immobilisation, as he took the knife from Noro he pretended to stab Noro to complete the demo. I saw nothing wrong personally, but Noro was furious at the actions of Nakazono Sensei and he did not try to hide it.

I am afraid I do not know much more than what Mr Tissier said.
It is not a secret however that France was, even at the time, too small of a place for such big names. Over the years, I also got some quite contradictory information as to who was actually supposed to be in charge. This includes Andre Nocquet who is only too seldom mentioned in my eyes.

Very interesting story. Every country should have such a dedicated pioneer to get aikido truly off the ground. It means a world of difference when it comes to attracting people to what we do.

You know, I think Tissier Sensei is really great and a major positive force in European Aikido, but Aikido in France started whith Tadashi Abe in the early 50s, and continued with Tamura Sensei in the early 60s, so I would not quite call him a pioneer.